Why is web hosting important?

Let’s say that you want to build a website for your new small business to promote your products and/or services to potential customers. One of the first things you’ll need is a web host, like Media Temple, to host your new website once it’s built. Think of it like building a new house. First, you need to buy land, even before building the foundation. Web hosting is like the land your website will be built on.

Or maybe you’re an artist or professional who wants to create an online portfolio to showcase examples of your work. The type of web hosting services that you get for a portfolio may be very different from what you’d need for an e-commerce or small business website. That’s because the volume of traffic and resources needed for an e-commerce website is usually much higher than for a portfolio site.

What kind of hosting plan is right for you?

Whether you’re a seasoned blogger, brand new small business, budding artist, or even an e-commerce mogul, Media Temple has the best web hosting services for you. But before you choose a hosting plan, here are a few questions to help narrow down your search for the right plan.

1. How many people are likely to visit your website? If you’re creating a portfolio, designed for a select audience, then a dedicated server might be overkill for you. Instead, you could save a lot of money by buying a shared hosting server. For low- to medium-trafficked sites, shared web hosting can be just as fast and secure as dedicated alternatives.

2. Will your site need databases or secured areas? Understanding as many of the technical details of your website as possible before selecting web hosting services will help you get the right plan from day one. Of course, at Media Temple we realize that, although while we’re web engineers, you might not be. That’s why we keep a squad of full-time professionals on staff. They’d all be happy to look at your site, talk about your needs, and help you choose a hosting plan that’s a perfect fit.

3. Want apps? Web apps like WordPress, Drupal, and Zen Cart can really help speed up your site’s development process. They offer pre-fabricated, out-of-the-box solutions for common problems that webmasters face. Knowing if apps like these will be useful for your website will also help you find the right web hosting services. At Media Temple, we offer a full range of 1-click apps, as well as G Suite.

How do you know whether or not your host can scale?

Scalable hosting is essential for growing businesses. Traffic slowly trickles in to new websites, but as they age and gain popularity across the web, their web traffic begins to grow. Sometimes this growth can happen at an astounding rate. But traffic costs bandwidth, and most hosting plans only come with a set amount of bandwidth. Media Temple believes that even fixed bandwidth web hosting services should be scalable. That’s why we created the world’s first scalable, shared hosting solution called the Grid.